Astuces
by blaineanderbation
Summary: Sebastian has eyes for one Blaine Anderson, and his cousin Sugar from France is the perfect spy. Together and maybe with some extra help, will they be able to take him away from Kurt Hummel? Story better than summary. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Alright. So this is my first serious fic that I do plan on continuing. Feedback would be lovely since I worked hard on this, what with all the revising and stuff, and it's the longest chapter I've ever written. Hehe. ^^

I don't plan for this story to be very long but it will have lots of twists and turns and tricks(thus the name, if any of you translated:)). There'll be minimal french, but the parts there are will be short, or if not, a translation will be provided.

Anything in French that is translated will have a * next to it and the translation can be found at the bottom, in the order of which they appeared.

This fanfiction is based on a prompt from Jessie, or mediumdripandasugarmotta on tumblr. Couldn't have done it without her, so a big _whoop whoop _for her!

honorarygirl on tumblr if you want to follow, I post updates about the story:3

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><p>Sugar smiles at her reflection before gingerly closing the locker, hands automatically reaching into the pockets of her red mini dress. A brown leather belt circles her waist, and her ballet flats clank against the floor as she walks.<p>

Sugar frowns slightly as she types in her password wrong, taking a bit more time to type in 'sugarrocks' on the bright screen of the touch phone. Her background is a picture of herself with Sebastian, both smiling gleefully into the camera they had asked the chauffeur to hold in France, in front of Sebastian's old mansion. A pang of longing hit her as she remembered the lovely country, and she opens up her contacts, scrolling through millions of people she can't remember a thing of until she finds Sebastian, under Santana Lopez and over Susie Pepper.

_"What now?"_ Sebastian's voice is annoyed, and Sugar can hear the Warblers harmonizing through the tinny speakers. Sebastian hates when Sugar interrupts practice.

_"Ils vont sortir a le café se soir."_* Her accent rolls out naturally, purring at the 'r's. Sugar can almost see Sebastian fuming a hundred miles away. The distance barrier annoys him greatly, but it is Friday, when he comes over to spend the week-end at Sugar's with vague explanations to his mother before he jumps into his Ferrari with an overnight bag.

_"Starbucks?"_

_"Oui."_

_"Savez-vous quelle heure? "*_

_"What am I, a stalker?"_ Sugar snaps in English, but regrets it when she hears the dull _beep, beep_ of being hang up on. Sighing, she puts the phone back in her pocket before heading outside to meet a couple of her friends.

Sebastian watches as Jeff belts out the final notes of California Girls -they sure sang a lot of objectifying songs for an all-male acapella group- and then smiles and laughs with the rest as they pat his back and everybody disperses. Sebastian picks up his own bag, a plain black except for a small Warbler pin attached to it that Nick had all but forced him to take the first day he transferred from France and joined the Warblers with an outstanding rendition of Like a Virgin.

The Ferrari is outside in the school parking lot, red and shiny as if it were brand new. Sebastian jumps in, shoves the keys in with a bit too much force than necessary, and makes the well-practiced one hour drive to Lima, Ohio.

"Tell me again why you need to turn your hair into a helmet, Blaine?" Blaine snorts a bit and it's so adorable Kurt has to smile, the small smile Blaine always forces out of him.

"I'll stop gelling my hair when you stop polluting the world with all the hair spray you use." Blaine says lightly.

"Touché, Mr. Anderson." Kurt says simply, then it's their turn in line and Kurt takes out his wallet hastily, beating Blaine to the chase. Blaine mock pouts and Kurt giggles a bit.

"A grande nonfat mocha for me and a medium drip for this nutcase." Kurt says smoothly, pushing over the ten dollar bill and pretending not to see Blaine roll his eyes.

The barista takes down their names before gesturing for them to take a seat anywhere, which Kurt and Blaine do, next to a closed window. They talk about meaningless things, simply enjoying time together, until somebody clears their throat and sets down three drinks, before scooting up a chair next to Blaine.

It takes Kurt a moment to register that _oh_,_ it's Sebastian, _and Blaine smiles at him, oblivious as he always is, and even scoots to the side a bit to better accommodate the taller boy.

"I got your drinks for you guys," Sebastian says sweetly, as if he has no ulterior motives. Blaine, of course, believes every word of it.

"Thanks! Isn't that nice of him, Kurt?" Blaine looks at him with bright eyes as if it's simply the _best thing on Earth_ that Sebastian got them their drinks.

"Mhmm." Kurt manages.

"So, what are you doing around here, Sebastian? Dalton isn't exactly next door." Blaine asks curiously, and Kurt wonders what kind of excuse Sebastian can think of.

"Oh, my parents are out of town so I was thinking of staying in a hotel around here somewhere and then visiting Scandals tomorrow night." Blaine and Kurt both do a double take.

"Scandals? As in, _The Scandals?_ The gay bar?" Sebastian winks mischievously at Kurt.

"Yup, that's the one."

"Where are you staying again, Sebastian? There aren't exactly many hotels around here." Blaine says.

"Eh, there might be a motel around here somewhere, hopefully." Kurt can tell that Sebastian is milking it, but he didn't think Blaine would be this naïve until-

"That's nonsense! Stay with me for the weekend, it'll be awesome!" Sebastian has the nerve to look shocked, and apparently doesn't want to take the chance to do the whole, are you sure? act.

"Wow, that's really nice of you, Blaine. I'd love to. Only for the weekend, of course. Wouldn't want to be a burden on you." Sebastian says, and everything is _aww how sweet isn't this jolly great why don't we hop into a pool of rainbows and friendship _to Kurt. It's sickening, but worst of all was the true excitement in Blaine's eyes, as if he's a teenage girl getting her first real sleep-over, pillow fights and mani-pedis and all.

"Kurt, I'd ask you, but I know it isn't exactly your cup of tea, so Blaine- do you want to come over to Scandals with me?" Kurt is staring daggers at Sebastian now but he's pretending not to notice it, and then Kurt cuts in smoothly, giving Sebastian a wicked smile.

"Blaine and I would love to come along, Sebastian." The comment earns him one second of a flustered Sebastian before he composes himself and grins around.

"Great! Then Blaine and I can pick you up around nine tonight?"

All smiles, all smiles as Kurt agrees with fake enthusiasm and they push their chairs back and Kurt leaves his half-finished drink on the table, his appetite suddenly gone. Since they came here in Kurt's car, Kurt is hoping for Blaine to hop into his and Sebastian can trail behind like the pathetic puppy he is, but Sebastian is quicker.

"But Kurt, I don't want to bother you anymore than I'm already bothering Blaine, so how about you go home in your car and Blaine can direct me in my car?" Sebastian tilts his head lightly and smiles again, and Kurt realizes that he just got his ass handed to him. Blaine nods once and beams, looking shorter than usual next to Sebastian's towering height.

Unless Kurt wants to look like a stuttering idiot, he has no choice but to turn right around like a fool and get into his car, seething, his grip on the steering wheel perhaps a bit tighter than strictly necessary. Meanwhile, he has a perfect view from his rearview mirror of a laughing Blaine get into Sebastian's car, Sebastian in tow. That bastard, how _dare he_-

_Woah. Woah. What's wrong with me? Maybe I'm exaggerating. It's not like Sebastian tried to kiss Blaine in front of me. Come to think of it, he didn't even do anything remotely suspicious. It was simply Blaine being over-excited for everything like he always is. There's nothing wrong. Calm down, Kurt. _

Feeling considerably better, Kurt drives home, already planning a few outfits in his mind for the night. He wants to wow Blaine, remind him of exactly what he has (alright, so maybe he was still not over it).

"So Blaine, how's things with you and Kurt?" Sebastian is careful to keep his voice tentative, licking his lips to moisten his suddenly dry lips. He's worried he's pushed it too far too soon when Blaine turns to look at him for a second, but _god _does the column of his neck look good when he's turning it, his Adam's apple prominent, then Blaine turns back to keep on driving and Sebastian still has a good view of his profile with an actual excuse to keep on looking.

Blaine clears his throat, apparently unsure of how to answer.

"It's just that I noticed he seemed kind of cold today. I'm sorry, it wasn't my place to ask." Sebastian backtracks, but using all the right words, unconsciously guilt-tripping Blaine to answer.

"No, it's my fault. I don't actually know, really. We were doing fine then he seemed so tense for no reason. Do you think it was my outfit?" Blaine bites his lower lip, unable to think of any other reason. Sebastian chuckles softly and looks over Blaine's outfit for the umpteenth time.

He's wearing a short-sleeved dark green button-up that brings out the hazel in his eyes, and black slacks. His hair is lathered in gel, as always, though he seems to have given it some breathing room today as it's slightly higher than normal. He looks amazing, to put it short.

"N'aww, you look great, if I do say so myself." Blaine blushes a bit and opens up the windows, letting the autumn air in. It's slightly chilly; an ever-constant reminder that winter is on its way. Dimly, Blaine remembers his grandfather.

_A young boy with a wild curly hair that flops into his hair reaches up to look through the window, chubby hands clutching the window sill and trying to push himself up to see the winter wonderland outside. A pair of strong hands pick him up from behind, slightly tickling the boy's sides, and give him the leverage he needs to look out. The tree his swing is attached to is no longer green, and the world is all white. The floor reminds Blaine of the fuzzy carpet that covers his whole room, or his blanket. Maybe it's making the floor warm. Blaine turns back to look at his grandfather, giving him a big smile with one front tooth missing. His grandfather simply keeps on looking out, seemingly forgetting the five year old in his hands._

"_Winter is an unforgiving time, Blaine. Remember that."_

Blaine jolts out of the memory. His namesake had died shortly after that winter, just a few weeks shy of his sixty-fifth birthday. Those words had stuck with him, though.

Back to reality, Sebastian is fiddling with his CDs in the glove box, raising his eyebrows slightly at the Katy Perry CD, asking for his consent. Blaine shrugs. Sebastian pops it in, and the first few notes of Teenage Dream filter through the car. Sebastian starts to sing along, and Blaine is about to hop in when he feels like something is wrong. It should be Kurt he's singing this with, and there's something very intimate about this song that he just doesn't want to share with Sebastian.

Trying to appear nonchalant about it, Blaine presses the Next Track button, which is clean and polished without finger marks or dust on it, which it might as well be because it would be a crime to not take proper care of such a nice car. Blaine yet again is reminded of a memory, one not so old, of fixing a car with his father. The strained smile on his face and the impatience flashing in his eyes every time Blaine gave him the wrong tool or fumbled with something. They never actually finished the project, his father simply saying he had too much work to continue. The disappointment was palpable in the air that day, and Blaine found he couldn't look his father in the eye and instead stared down at his grease-stained hands.

Presently, Blaine pulls into his driveway and pulls the key out of the ignition. "This is it." He sighs, still lost in memory, and Sebastian shoots him a questioning look before opening his door and taking his bag out of the back, Blaine leading the way up to the front door.

"My mom and dad are out of town for the weekend, so we'll pretty much be surviving on take out." Blaine says shyly, and it's the cutest thing Sebastian has seen in his life.

"It's okay, we'll eat like kings." Sebastian buffs his chest out and Blaine laughs slightly before opening the door and leading the way into his fairly large house.

The place is elegant and refined at first glance, though it has a cold air to it, as if it's on view in a museum. It's beautiful, but nobody has truly lived in it, adding the color only a human presence can. Blaine much prefers the Hudmel household, which is admittedly much smaller but has all the little touches Blaine adores, like the blankets thrown over the couch carelessly, evidence that someone has been snuggling under them, perhaps watching football or Project Runway, or the milk jug that is somehow always left on the counter no matter how many times Carole tells the boys to put it back in the fridge or it's going to spoil.

Sebastian is looking around in wonder, carefully examining the glass vases and antique tables.

"Come on, you might break something if you breathe too hard." Blaine wants to put a hand on Sebastian's arm to pull him away, but at the last minute hesitates and decides not to, instead hoping that Sebastian follows him upstairs to his room, where they spend a good fifteen minutes arguing about which restaurant to order from, then exactly what toppings to order for the pizza.

In the end, they settled for two small pizzas, one pepperoni and one vegetarian because apparently Sebastian is all for animal rights. While they're plowing through the pizzas time flies by. Sebastian is more like Blaine, he discovers, in terms of personality. Kurt is amazing but he's just never really understood the beauty of football. Between being so far away from the Warblers and still just being 'Kurt's boyfriend' in McKinley, Blaine hasn't been able to talk like this for a long time. They talk and joke and generally have a good time talking about random things when Blaine, through a mouthful of pizza, tries to shout 'Oh shit! The time!' which ends up sounding something like, "Offid! Duh Dym!" They both spring up from the carpet and cushions they've been lounging on and Sebastian sees that it is indeed eight, and it's a forty-five minute drive to Kurt's house, if God feels like granting the green lights. Blaine leads Sebastian to the bathroom in his room to change while he goes through his own closet, trying to find something that Kurt would find fashionable. He settles on a plain white, long-sleeved button up with a navy vest over it, and he tucks skin-tight jeans that he knows Kurt loves into black just-above-the-ankle boots. Kurt loves boots as much as he loves scarves.

They get into Blaine's 2007 blue Mustang, mostly because Sebastian's car doesn't have back seats. Blaine doesn't remember the drive to Kurt's house ever being shorter. At some point, Sebastian's phone rings, and for a second a picture of a girl that looks kind of familiar shows up on the screen, but Sebastian answers too quickly for Blaine to get a good look, and speaks rapid fire French with an affectionate tone underlying annoyance, as if Sebastian is speaking to a small child. Unlike Kurt, however, Blaine had done Latin in Dalton and then started Spanish at McKinley, so he didn't have the faintest idea what Sebastian was saying. When he decidedly ended the conversation in what sounded like a very decisive manner, Sebastian shoots Blaine an apologetic smile and says something about 'girls not understanding he doesn't play for their team'. Blaine can sympathize, and the conversation goes on undeterred as Sebastian tells hilarious story after hilarious story of desperate girls in France. They pull by Kurt's house only five minutes late, but Kurt is out before Blaine even kills the engine. He must have been waiting by the window, and the thought makes Blaine uncomfortable.

Kurt opens the passenger door by reflex, then blushes and laughs a bit to cover his unease. "Whoops, my bad." Shuts it gently and goes to sit in the back like a stupid child, and sitting behind Sebastian since he didn't want to look even more like a fool by making an unnecessary turn around the car to sit behind Blaine. "Blaine, do you know where it is?" Sebastian asks and much to Kurt's shock, Blaine gives a little 'mhmm' and sets off down an unfamiliar route to Kurt, but apparently all too familiar to Blaine.

The drive passes in awkward silence, in which Kurt tries to hide his moodiness as much as possible to not appear like a kicked puppy. He has dressed to impress, in an all-black ensemble, with knee-high lace-up black boots, loose black and white pants tucked into the boots, and a soft black turtleneck, and a white scarf draped carelessly over his shoulders, his hair swept back with a few strands brushing his forehead.

Sebastian was not a man who immersed himself in fashion. He had on black sneakers, a pair of faded jeans and a green shirt with –ugh- a popped collar. How _jock sheek._

They simultaneously open their doors and Blaine double-checks the locks and quite frankly Kurt can't blame him. The area doesn't exactly look safe, it's very dark and shady and Kurt swears he can see a couple of guys a few feet back, waiting like eager hyenas for pray. Sebastian passes out the fake IDs that look nothing like them, and the unlikely trio makes their way to the door.

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><p>French translations:<p>

_"They are going out to the cafe tonight."_

_"Do you know when?"_ (Literal translation is 'do you know at what hour'.)


	2. Chapter 2

I know you guys probably don't want to see my apology ramble about how late this is- but my laptop crashed! How unfair is that?

For the next chapters, I'll be saving them online so things like this don't stop me from writing, and hopefully next chapters will be up much faster!:3

As an apology, this chapter is over two thousand words more than the first one! Wheeeee!

As always, the French has an asterisk next to it and the translation can be found at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

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><p>The entrance is guarded by a beefy man wearing a jacket that had seen its best moments some fifteen years ago. He raises his eyebrows at their young looks and they all hastily hand him their fake IDs, and Kurt's says he's from Hawaii and Blaine's says he's forty and Kurt is sure they're going to be turned around and told to leave and come back some fifty years later when they're ready to lose their dignity, but then he moves aside and the music is suddenly infinitely louder. Men of all ages are dancing, some just turning around in slow circles, too wasted to really attempt any choreography. The bar is mostly empty so Kurt and Blaine follow Sebastian to where he sits down, hovering around awkwardly until he tells them to take a seat with a laugh.<p>

"Kurt, you're the designated driver, right? So, two beers and a Shirley Temple. Extra cherry, Kurt?" Kurt thanks god the lighting here is terrible because he blushes to the roots of his hair and is about to tell Sebastian just exactly where he can put those extra cherries when he feels Blaine's hand on his thigh, going back and forth soothingly.

"Sure." Kurt says. At some point once they get their drinks and Blaine can't resist the dance floor any longer, Kurt finds himself sitting along at the bar drinking a Shirley Temple while his boyfriend dances with another guy and he doesn't even know what he's doing.

"Hey." Kurt whips around to see Dave Karofsky sitting there, of all people. He's wearing a baseball cap and a jean jacket, but he looks different somehow, more open and less threatening.

"So how's life at your new school?" Kurt asks mostly out of common courtesy, because it looks like Dave is just going to sit there awkwardly until Kurt says something.

"Fine. You know I just want to have a normal senior year, play football without my teammates hearing rumors about me." Kurt nods because he understands, in a way, what it's like.

"Just to let you know I would have never told anyone. It's not who I am." Kurt says, as if he hasn't said it a million times and shown it too, when he simply stood quiet at the millions of opportunities he had.

He tilts his head slightly, catching Blaine and Sebastian dancing together yet again, and turning his head back with a grimace on his face, trying to distract himself.

"So you come here all the time?" His tone lacks the friendliness and pithy it was filled with a few seconds ago, still bitter with jealousy he still isn't very keen to admit.

"People like me here, I feel accepted." Another chuckle. "I'm what they call a bear cub." Dave seems to feel at ease in the conversation.

"Because you look like Yogi?" It's blunt but that's Kurt's sense of humor, even though he's being kind of serious right now. There is a certain type of adorableness to Dave's burliness, Kurt thinks.

"I don't know, because I'm burly or somethin'?" Kurt wonders if his smile is a little strained because the temperature in the room drops a few degrees.

"What, is this the point where you judge me?" Dave asks.

Kurt gives a little bewildered shake of his head.

"No. As long as you're not beating people up, I'm all for being whoever you have to be at your own speed." Kurt smiles at him, going for the reassuring look, and Dave takes a second to really digest the words.

Kurt can't help it again when he turns back to see Blaine and Sebastian dancing around, and this time Dave turns with him.

"Right now I'm just trying to get through high school." Kurt opens his mouth, closes it, and then simply nods because god life is so unfair for them.

"Here's to baby steps." Dave raises his beer and Kurt mutters "baby steps" before clinking his Shirley Temple with Dave's drink. As he takes a sip, he looks at them one last time and catches Blaine's eyes on him, with a come-hither look that should be illegal in about fifty different states and Kurt gives Dave a good bye smile who nods his understanding and Kurt practically struts to where Sebastian is getting much too close to Blaine, and squeezes himself between them, doing the shimmy that is apparently an 'over-used' move but he couldn't give less of a fuck right now as he forces Sebastian out of the way. Sebastian must be more sober than Blaine(who Kurt thinks hasn't even noticed the difference between his dance partners) and Sebastian moves and for a second Kurt thinks he might leave but then he's simply going to Blaine's other side. How clever.

Kurt, acting completely indifferent, picks up Blaine and twirls him around to the opposite side, continuing the dancing as if that twirl had no other motives such as getting that creep away from Blaine. But he can't help his head snapping back and giving Sebastian his best bitch glare before turning around to Blaine and simultaneously turning bright and chipper again.

Kurt definitely felt better as they exited soon after, an incredibly drunk Blaine in tow. He rubs Blaine's back while he rambles on, everything about nothing, and things seem to be going relatively fine as Kurt seriously contemplates taking Blaine in his car and just leaving Sebastian here. That is, until he opens the back seat of the car and Blaine is suddenly a heavy weight over him.

"Hey, hey kiss me." It would be funny if Kurt didn't find it hot, but Blaine's breath and how overall uncomfortable Kurt is with the area keeps him from really feeling anything.

"Oh no." He mutters, smiling.

"You're riding in the back, come on," and Blaine is uttering his consent (maybe a sober part of him had reached through).

"Lie down, less likely you'll throw up that wa-woah woah woah-uh-wait!" Blaine suddenly pulls him down on top of him, and his breath stinks of beer as Blaine desperately tries to kiss any part of Kurt he can reach, trying to pull Kurt's face down to his but his eye-hand coordination is miserable.

"Blaine-alright, hold my hand-" Kurt tries, mostly to establish some sort of sense in the stifled atmosphere.

"I want you. I want you so bad." Kurt nearly dies because he does too, but it's not the right time or place and why doesn't Blaine get that.

"No Blaine, no. Stop it!"

"I know you want to do it in a field of lilacs with Sting playing in the background and all that, but who cares where we are-"

"I-"

"It's all about us, right?"

"Right! It's about us, which is why I don't want to do it on a night you spent half of dancing with another guy! And that you're sober enough to remember it the next day!" The pent-up anger he's been nursing ever since Sebastian came rushes out in those two sentences. But suddenly, Blaine is just as angry.

"Why are you yelling at me?" He seems completely sober suddenly, and he has no reason to be angry. Kurt has done nothing wrong while Blaine is making all the mistakes, so why is he angry? He has no right.

"Because I've never felt less like being intimate with someone and either you can't tell or you just don't care!" The words are harsh but true, and Kurt's breathing is labored and he's using wild hand gestures to emphasize his distress.

Blaine looks at him for a second before sighing and walking out of the car, and Kurt is so tired of this.

"Where are you going?" He shouts to Blaine's back.

Blaine turns around, movements a little shaky.

"I'm sorry if I'm trying to be spontaneous and fun!" His hands go up in the air in the universal sign of giving up, and they just stand there for a couple of seconds, unsure of what to do.

"I think I'm just going to walk home." Blaine says finally.

"Blaine!" Kurt shouts, because he's sorry, he shouldn't have been harsh on a drunk Blaine, hasn't he had enough experience from last year?

Blaine doesn't answer, simply continues walking out of the parking lot. Kurt's lower lip trembles and he lets out another frustrated breath, unsure of what to do with himself. He turns around, shutting the back door, and gets in the driver's seat and hopes to God he was paying enough attention to the roads on their way here. Fuck Sebastian, he can walk with Blaine. Of course.

Sebastian is sitting on an empty bar stool, frustrated, when his phone rings and he picks it up mechanically.

_"Bon soir."_ Sugar says, obviously in a good mood.

"Que?" Sebastian answers, because he's certainly not in a good mood.

Sebastian hears a door closing on the other end and Sugar must be alone in a room because her reply is in English.

_"What did I do?"_

"Rien. Je suis juste...ennuyé." Sebastian explains, still having to talk French in the crowded space. He runs a hand through his hair.

_"Poor thing. What went wrong?"_

"Pas maintenant, Sugar. Je vais te parler demain."* He shuts the phone and puts it on silent, ignoring the vibrations.

"What's bothering you?" Sebastian hears from the side, and he turns to see a man in a baseball cap smiling at him amiably. Crap. It wasn't often somebody knew French well enough in America to understand Sebastian and Sugar's conversations, and even less who actually gave a damn.

The man laughs at Sebastian's shocked expression.

"I've listened to Kurt Hummel insult me enough times to know the basics." Sebastian almost fell off his chair. If this guy knew Kurt, then he knew Blaine. Those two were like salt and pepper shakers, which Sebastian intended to fix.

"You know Kurt?" He asks, trying to keep his voice neutral.

"Mhmm. And if I were you, I'd give up. Blaine and Kurt are inseparable. Trust me, I'd know." Now he definitely has piqued Sebastian's interest.

"Oh really? How so?"

"Blaine has been there for Kurt right from the start, and I don't think he ever intends to not be there. Ditto the other way around. And if you and I try to tell ourselves any differently, we'd be lying."

This man liked Kurt. Sebastian could personally never see the appeal of the China doll-like boy, but he could be a powerful ally.

"Sebastian Smythe."

"Dave Karofsky."

"So, Dave, what if I told you I could help you win Kurt?" Dave raises his eyebrows but Sebastian can see the secret longing in his eyes, the heart break.

"Nice of you, Sebastian, but you don't know what I've done to Kurt. I'm lucky he stills stands five feet near me, let alone actually treating me as a friend. I don't want to risk that."

"But you wouldn't have to! Look, I'll do all the work. I just need you to be there for Kurt when things get...a little shaky with Blaine. Can I count on you?"

There's a long pause where Dave looks at Sebastian with a troubled expression, battling with his morals, until he finally sighs and stretches out his hand.

"Deal."

Blaine is miserable, the following day. He knows he treated Kurt wrong but he doesn't even have the courage to call Kurt and apologize and even go over to his house, and for another thing Sebastian came to the house at about six AM the following morning with a taxi, who Blaine had completely forgotten about during last night's crazy shenanigans. He apologizes to him profusely, and no matter how many times Sebastian says it was fine Blaine still feels guilty, which is mostly why he spends the rest of the day in the house with Sebastian, lollygagging and playing video games. He tries to push away the guilt he feels every time he sees the picture of Kurt and himself at prom on his desk, or on his desktop background when Sebastian wants to show him a hilarious Youtube video, or when they have to order take-out again for lunch the look of disgust Kurt would have on his face when Blaine orders thick crust ("All those empty calories, Blaine!").

It's Saturday night when Sebastian suggests stopping by the Lima Bean for some coffee, and Blaine shrugs along to the idea. It's only when they're driving there that Blaine realizes there is a very real risk of running into Kurt there, but he can't possibly tell Sebastian that he'd had a fight with Kurt over him, and he really couldn't think of another reason _why _they shouldn't go to the coffee shop.

To Blaine's relief, Kurt isn't there, but a second later he fills with dread as he notices a certain short, Jewish girl fighting her way through the hustle and bustle of a Saturday afternoon to Blaine. She takes a deep breath when she stops in front of him, and Blaine just _knows _that she has a speech prepared and this could turn out ugly.

"Hey Sebastian, why don't you order us coffee?"

"Oh, sure. What's yours?" Sebastian is eyeing the minute Rachel with some apprehension and she looks positively livid at the sight of him.

Blaine hasn't been asked that question in a long time, and it takes him a couple of seconds to realize he should answer.

"Oh-um, medium drip." Sebastian smiles and leaves with a pat on Blaine's shoulder, and Rachel smiles at Blaine with her head tilted, a kind of insane smile that means Blaine is in a _lot _of trouble, which is annoying, because between Santana and Finn and the occasional Puck, Rachel and Kurt are the only people who actually like him at McKinley, and now they're both mad at him.

"Now Blaine, I understand as a gay teenager you probably have urges, and that's completely normal, but you have to understand Kurt has been through some hard times-"

"Yes Rachel, I was there. Where were you when he got sexually harassed?"

The anger comes out of nowhere and Rachel looks taken aback and stutters a bit.

"I-I also had things to deal with but Kurt knows I have his best interest at heart, and what you've done to him was rude, uncivilized, completely uncalled for, as Kurt was nothing but an amazing boyfriend and you threw that all back in his fa-"

"Yes Rachel, I know! I don't need you to tell me! I've had quite enough, thank you!" With that, Blaine quickly stops himself from throwing his hands into the air -not a good habit- and leaves to find Sebastian who is still in the line and eyeing the pre-Christmas decorations.

"Hey, who was that?"

"Oh, um, just a friend of mine."

Sebastian gives Blaine a skeptical look and honestly Blaine can't blame him. They didn't look all that friendly together just now.

"We just…had a fight, but it's fine. I'll deal with it later."

"Listen, Blaine, if I can help-"

"No no, it's fine. I can deal with it."

Silence.

"A medium drip and an American coffee with a shot of kavousi, please."

"Take out or here?"

Sebastian turns to Blaine and Blaine makes a quick decision.

"Here."

Once they've taken their seat, Blaine's hands keep fidgeting. He can't seem to sit still, fiddling with the end of a napkin or tapering on the cups.

"Blaine. Blaine."

"Hmm?" Blaine looks up, distracted, and Sebastian sighs. Blaine curses himself inwardly.

"There's something wrong with you, and you haven't been telling me all day."

"What? That's crazy."

"Don't give me that, Blaine. I can try and help."

"I don't think this is something you can help with, and I don't want to get you involved."

"Is this about you being uncomfortable with me staying, I can always leave-"

"No! There's nothing wrong with you. Nothing." Blaine realizes the phrasing might have been wrong and blushes slightly.

"Alright then." Sebastian tries to hide his smug look.

"Hey, have you ever heard of a one Dave Karofsky?"

Blaine's whole body tenses.

"What about him?"

"Oh nothing, I just saw him chatting with Kurt at the bar last night."

"He was _what?_"

"Oh, just chatting. They seem friendly enough, I was just wondering if he was an ex-Warbler or something."

Sebastian knows full well this isn't the case, but it can't hurt to leech every bit of information possible.

"Not at all. Karofsky was-is this…insane closet case, and he just made life crap for Kurt."

A moment of silence.

"He was the reason Kurt came to Dalton originally, it's how I met him."

"Mhmm." The note is neutral and quiet, assessing, and then Sebastian speaks again.

"Why did Kurt leave again, then?"

"He missed his friends…and Karofsky promised to not hurt him. Protect him, even." Blaine ends with a scoff.

"I don't trust him around Kurt, though." Sebastian takes in all this and tries to map out things in his head, but the way he'd originally planned to use Karofsky as a pawn was now changed. Dave had just gotten upgraded to a bishop, if not more.

The subject of Kurt and Karofsky never comes up again the entire night.

Kurt is sitting in his pajamas, satin pants and loose blue tank top, and there's pizza on the floor and Rachel, Mercedes, Brittany, Santana, Quinn and Tina are all crowding around the room, Santana and Brittany taking up the entire couch, browsing through channels, Tina and Mercedes doing manicures, Quinn braiding Rachel's hair.

"Honey, he just seemed kind of angry." Rachel says sympathetically, trying not to turn away from the mirror as Quinn works on the French braid.

"Yeah, like maybe he was on his period or something. Gay guys get those, right?" Brittany has turned away from the TV to listen to the conversation, and everybody silently ignores the comment.

"I just don't get _why _he would do this. I did nothing wrong here and he's avoiding me."

"Then stop being such a blushing virgin. Have sex with him, and everything will be fixed."

Rachel shoots Santana a death glare from the corner of her eye as Quinn impatiently tilts Rachel's head straight again, and Kurt sighs.

"I-I thought he understood I wanted to wait until the right time." Kurt fiddles with the soft white sheets.

"Look hon, don't wait for him to come to you. Go confront him. You're a strong, independent wo-errr, this speech works better with straight couples. Ah well. You get the point. Go get 'em, tiger!" Mercedes says, not taking her eyes off Tina's fingers, which she is currently painting an electric blue.

"Yeah, I will!" Kurt is about to get up before he realizes he's in pajamas, and it's nearing two AM.

"Tomorrow." He says after an awkward pause, and he spends the night with the girls trying and mostly succeeding at taking his mind off the touchy subject.

Meanwhile, not so far away, there's another sleepover going on in the Anderson household.

"What do you like in Call of Duty?" Blaine asks, trying and failing to hide his tone of disgust.

The only reason Blaine has this game is because Puck jail broke his Xbox for him and loaded a ton of games, ranging from My Little Pony to the game Sebastian is so deeply immersed in at the moment, his tongue poking out slightly in concentration.

"Not..now..damn!" Sebastian shouts, throwing the controller down. Blaine shakes his head in exaggerated exasperation.

"I dunno. It lets you get your frustrations out, I guess." Sebastian shrugs his broad shoulders.

Blaine makes a noncommittal noise and picks up the second controller which he never really had another use for before.

The night is spent trying to teach Blaine the finer points of first-person shooter games, and Blaine swears at the top of his voice simply for the thrill of it, he's never been much of a swearer.

The following morning, or rather, around afternoon, Blaine rubs his eyes and groans, raising his head slightly. The room is a mess, and his blanket is on the floor, suspiciously close to Sebastian, who is still unconscious, his arms and legs stretched, taking up as much room as possible. Blaine snorts a bit and pushes himself up, trying not to wake up Sebastian. There's a knocking at the door, and Blaine realizes he hadn't woken up on his own, the knocking had been going on for a while.

Hurrying downstairs, Blaine makes his way through the war zone that his house has turned into lately. Random junk on the floor, clothes strewn aside, and makes his way down taking the stairs three at a time, rushing to open the door, then freezing.

Kurt.

He's there. Dressed impeccably as always, hair styled up and to the side, wearing a navy sweater that reaches mid-thigh with a white dress shirt underneath, tight jeans and black ankle boots. Blaine, on the other hand, is in ratty pajama bottoms and a white undershirt two sizes too big for him, and he doesn't need a mirror to know his curls are running rampant.

Kurt raises an eyebrow, eyes cool and calculating. They're a cool crystal blue today, sharp and unforgiving.

"Hi." Blaine is a little breathless from the run to the door, and he straightens up a bit, running a hand through his curls, trying to compose himself and retain what little dignity he has left.

"Can I come in?" Kurt asks, and he's obviously going to take the reins in this conversation. Just as Blaine is about to step aside, a shirtless Sebastian shows up.

"Hey, what's goin-Oh hey Kurt! 'Sup?" Sebastian is lounging against the door frame, grinning at Kurt, and if Blaine had spent an evening thinking about it he still couldn't have come up with a _worse _time for Sebastian to turn up.

Kurt's mouth opens and closes, and then he smiles brightly at the both of them, though his eyes remain hard instead of crinkling at the sides and shining like they do when Blaine says something particularly sweet or goofy.

"Oh nothing. I just wanted to remind Blaine of the science assignment, and his phone was off, and it's pretty important. I was on my way to Mercedes's house anyway, so I thought I may as well drop by and check on him." Kurt rambles a bit, he knows, but he's not about to let Sebastian have the pleasure of knowing he and Blaine aren't on their usual sugar sweet terms.

Kurt is about to turn around and walk back when he hears Blaine shouting his name. Sighing, he turns around, and plasters the fake smile on his face again. "Yes, Blaine?"

"Kurt..please don't do this. I'm so sorry about Friday night." Kurt could have fixed things had a curious Sebastian not been peeking his face out the door, bare chest still showing.

So instead, he leans into Blaine, and for a second Blaine is so relieved because Kurt looks like he's about to hug him.

Instead, he squeezes Blaine's shoulder a bit, and whispers, "You have a funny way of showing it," into Blaine's ear, making him shiver, then turning on his heel and getting into his car, leaving Blaine outside in the cold in his too-big undershirt.

"Come on, Blaine. Pizza's fresh from the microwave!" Sebastian calls from somewhere inside the house, and Blaine turns around and walks back in, feeling heavy, but trying not to let it show in front of Sebastian, who seems to be radiating sunshine and happiness.

Some distant part of him remembers that Sebastian had been wearing a shirt when he was sleeping, and he's wearing one now, but his present self doesn't make the connection and it gets pushed to the back of his mind.

"You know, Kurt reminded me, it's Sunday and it's really time to get started on some homework." Sebastian says in between large bites of margarita pizza, a glass of cold milk in front of him. Blaine simply nods. The one good thing about that morning is that Sebastian talks. A lot. The most Blaine has to do is make the right faces in all the right places and he's free to let his mind wander.

Kurt is furious with himself. He's not even sure what he's thinking. Did he overreact? No. Sebastian was acting more than friendly. Since when did sleepovers become shirtless?

He isn't actually going to Mercedes', but he certainly doesn't want to go home and do nothing. He opts to go out for coffee and read a bit, but he stops himself from making the much-practiced way to the Lima Bean. He's never been there without Blaine, and he isn't about to start now. Instead, he stops next to the nearest Starbucks chain and gets in line. Then does a double take.

"Kurt?

"_David?"_

Kurt chuckles nervously. Dave is behind him in line, now he turns with a bit of difficulty in the cramped space and smiles down at Kurt.

"Wow, we seem to be running into each other a lot this weekend." Says Dave, because of course Kurt is not aware that Sebastian logically guessed where Kurt might go and called Dave as soon as Kurt had left, while Blaine was still out on the porch, about where Kurt might go. There had been a slim chance but lady luck had been on their side.

"Yeah, we have." Kurt says lightly, but he's not much in the mood to talk to anyone. Dave doesn't seem to pick up on that.

"You want to have coffee together?" Dave asks, and Kurt can't turn him down, because he has kind of made it his personal ambition to help Dave become stronger and turning down his offer to hang out would make it seem like Kurt is degrading him, no matter how convincing his excuse is.

"Of course." Kurt consents, and sighs inwardly. They order drinks- Kurt doesn't pay attention to Dave's, which is odd, because normally a person's coffee order interests him greatly- and sit down at a table.

There's awkward silence for a few moments, in which they both sip at their scalding drinks in quiet, then Dave leans forward a bit.

"Kurt, if you're not in the mood for this, I understand. Say the word and I can leave." Kurt looks up from where he's absentmindedly twirling a spoon around in his drink.

"No! Not at all, it's just-" Kurt sighs and rubs circles into his temples. "It's just I'm having problems with-with Blaine." Kurt has no idea why he just said that. Sure, he has forgiven Dave for the past bullying, but he is still mostly a stranger to Kurt. Dave blinks.

"Oh." He says, apparently unsure of how to answer. "God, Kurt, that sucks. Aren't you and Blaine attached at the hip or something?" The true incredulity in his voice is what cracks Kurt, and he's giggling uncontrollably. They're insane laughs, a way to get the frustration out of his body. Dave looks taken aback by the abrupt change in his mood.

"I'm sorry, I think I've gone a little insane-" Kurt manages to say between outbursts, and then finally calms down with deep breaths.

"I'm so sorry, I'm a nutcase right now, you're probably freaking out-"

"Kurt, it's fine. Just calm down. I think this is bothering you more than you're letting on."

"Oh really, Dr. Karofsky?" Dave doesn't like it when Kurt uses his last name. It reminds him of around this time last year, when Dave had been the worst thing in Kurt's life. Guilt still resides in his heart. He can't tell Kurt all that though. Not now, at least.

"Yup. In fact, I believe the best solution is to talk to me about it." Dave is worried he's getting too bold but Kurt simply rolls with it. Cocks his head to the side, thinks to himself, and then turns to Dave with a pleased smile on his face.

"Great idea. Give me your phone."

"I-what?"

"Phone." Dave does as instructed, unlocking it first, and hands it over to Kurt, who types in something and then hands the phone back, already half-up.

"This has been fun, call me and we can do it again sometime." With that, Kurt Hummel is gone, leaving Dave staring after him with his coffee still half-full. He looks down and sees a new contact on his list. Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. He grins a bit to himself and finds it nary impossible to tone the smile down. Instead, still grinning like a fool, he calls Sebastian.

"_Yeah?"_

"I got his number."

"_Well done."_

Sebastian shuts the phone promptly after that, and Blaine gives him a confused look from five feet away, where he's writing his History essay.

"Keep working!" Sebastian commands, and Blaine rolls his eyes before returning to the large volume in front of him.

Sebastian, on the other hand, calls another number.

"_Hellooooo?"_

"Sugar? C'est moi."

"_Vraiment?__ Je pensais que c'était __Chuckles__ le Clown__. _"

"Qui?"

"_Passons sur. Que voulez-vous?"_

"Essayez et voyez si vous pouvez voir son téléphone."

"_Kurt ou Blaine?"_

"La premiere option."*

"_Like I wasn't creepy enough already."_ Sugar closes the phone, but Sebastian knows she'll listen.

"Hey Blaine, can you help me out a little? I have no idea what the hell I'm reading." Sebastian points to his Latin homework, and Blaine laughs.

"Sure, but I'm a little rusty. I take Spanish in McKinley."

"Why not continue with Latin?"

"Not available."

"Big sacrifice of you."

"Kurt's worth it." The answer is immediate and casual, like there is no doubt, as if he were reciting the first few digits of pie.

Sebastian needs to change that.

* * *

><p><span>First phone conversation in the bar:<span>

_"Bon soir."_ (Good Evening)

"Que?" (What?)

_"What did I do?"_

"Rien. Je suis juste...ennuyé." (Nothing. I'm just...annoyed.)

_"Poor thing. What went wrong?"_

"Pas maintenant, Sugar. Je vais te parler demain." (Not now, Sugar. I'll talk to you tomorrow.)

Second phone conversation in Blaine's room:

"_Hellooooo?"_

"Sugar? C'est moi." (Sugar? It's me.)

"_Vraiment?__ Je pensais que c'était__ Chuckles__ le Clown__. _" (Really? I thought it was Chuckles the Clown.)

"Qui?" (Who?)

"_Passons sur. Que voulez-vous?" _(Nevermind. What do you want?)_  
><em>

"Essayez et voyez si vous pouvez voir son téléphone." (Keep an eye on his phone.)

"_Kurt ou Blaine?" _(Kurt or Blaine?)

"La premiere option." (The first option.)


End file.
